As the operating speed, or frequency, of electronic devices increases, there is an ever increasing demand for higher speed, lower cost, lower power, and/or lower overhead interconnects between and/or within electronic assemblies. Traditionally, electrical connections between pairs of terminals have been utilized to form electrical interconnects between electronic circuits. These electrical interconnects, while effective over a range of data transmission rates, which also may be referred to herein as bit rates and/or frequencies, may be ineffective at frequencies that are greater than approximately 20 gigahertz (GHz) due to transmission line losses, dispersion, impedance mismatches, and/or electromagnetic crosstalk. While a maximum frequency of these electrical interconnects may be increased to some extent, such as through the use of equalization techniques, implementing these equalization techniques requires additional system complexity, expense, and/or space within the electronic assemblies.
Optical fibers, which may convey electromagnetic waves, also may be utilized to form optical interconnects between electronic assemblies, and the above-discussed limitations may be less pronounced therein. However, effective packing of the optical fibers within optical interconnects, and/or crosstalk among a plurality of optical fibers within the optical interconnects, may be problematic. In addition, the use of optical fibers generally requires an electrical-to-optical conversion device to generate an optical signal and convey the generated optical signal to the optical fiber, together with a corresponding optical-to-electrical conversion device to receive the optical signal from the optical fiber and convert the received optical signal into an electrical signal. These conversion devices typically consume a significant amount of power, are expensive to design and/or construct, are relatively large, and/or may require mixing different semiconductor technologies. Thus, there exists a need for improved interconnects that may effectively transmit data at frequencies in excess of 20 GHz, while decreasing power consumption, cost, and/or interconnect size.